Pep Boys Sells for $800 Million

When you walk down to the local Pep Boys to replace your AC Condenser or Radiator Fan there may be a sign that reads “Under New Management.”  The iconic parts company recently sold to aLos Angeles equity firm for $800 million dollars.

There may be a sign out front, but not too much else shouldchange.  The new owners plan on keepingmanagement in place, and you know they will keep Manny, Joe and Jackaround.  Pep Boys would just not be thesame with those giant headed mascots.  Thereare no plans to shut down any of the 729 stores, or to let go any employees.

Pep Boys hit a rough spot in the road because of increasedcompetition and a bad economy.  Theyposted losses for four straight years. While their competitors saw growth during tough times, because of peoplewanting to fix their old cars instead of buying new ones, Pep Boys did not.Some analysts believe it is because Pep Boys has both a parts and servicedivision while their competitors only focus on one.

The new owner speculates that it will take a while to getPep Boys back in the fast lane, but they are confident it will happen.

One MPG Win, How Many to Follow?

When buying a new car we expect that almost everything onthat window sticker is accurate. If it says there is a car cd changer in thecar, we expect there to be a car cd player in the car. The same goes for other advertisedoptions such as power windows, heated seats, or maybe even hybrid technology. Theprice is the only thing on that sticker we expect (and hope) is not 100%accurate. There always seems to be wiggle-room when it comes to the pricing ofthe vehicle, but one Californian woman discovered another ambiguous numberadvertised: the MPG.

When Heather Peters bought her 2006 Hybrid Honda Civic shewas excited like most new car owners. Gas prices were shooting up and she nowhad herself a car Honda promised would get her 50 miles per gallon. So shedrove and drove and drove, but she never saw 50mpg. After some time, she wasonly getting 30mpg. Well, fast-forward some time and she has actually suedHonda for this misrepresentation. This week she won the smalls claims lawsuitwhich means Honda has to pay close to $10,000 for not living up to itsadvertised gas mileage to Peters (and maybe some of the 200,000 other 2006Hybrid Honda Civic owners).

I understand frustration with not getting high gas mileage,especially if you’re paying for a car with that specific purpose. But on theother hand, one MPG number can’t be taken accurately across the board. Livingin Southern California myself (like Peters), I understand my car’s gas mileageprobably suffers a bit from the hilly landscape and the fact that 85% of thetime I’m driving in stop-and-go traffic. Peters has now created DontSettleWithHonda.orgtrying to get other owners on board, while Honda is standing firm that they arerequired by law to post the highest mileage the car could get. With thisvictory, I’m interested to see how many others come out with the same complainton the Civic and on other vehicle models. But for now it seems like the scoreremains, Hybrid Owners: 1, Honda: 0.

Lamborghini SUV

Somethings should just not happen.  Such as, going on a long road trip with kidswithout a DVD player, or trusting my mom to find her way without a car navigation system.  Another example of “somethingthat should happen” is that high performance car companies should not makeSUVs. Well, news came out today that Lamborghini is doing just that.  

The rumors have finally been confirmed by a senior source atAudi that the Lamborghini SUV is indeed, in the works.  Unlike their old giant LM002 that went out ofproduction in 1993, this SUV will be a much smaller crossover. The car has noofficial name yet, but the project goes by LB 736.
 

The gossip started when an Italian magazine wrote a storyand posted renderings of what the vehicle might look like.  The car in the magazine borrows the stylingof the Aventador, and looks like the platform could be that of the Audi Q7.

Speculation is that the LB736 will have a version of theGallardo’s 5.2 Liter V10, and boasts 700hp. There is no way that your kids will arrive late to soccer practice inthis SUV.  The size of the engine meansthat this Lamborghini will have no competition. No other high performance SUVseven come close to 700 horses.

Some Lamborghini traditionalists are going to wish this hadnever happened, and honestly I do not know how I feel about it.  I do have a lot of time to decide though,because the car is not going to go on sale until 2015.  I also have a lot of saving to do, because itis going to cost upwards of $200,000.